The best projectors of 2013 support the wide screen WXGA resolutions with a brightness levels of around 3000 lumens.

Projector display quality can be judged by two features - Resolution and Brightness.

ResolutionResolution refers to the number of pixels the projector uses to display. Pixel count is expressed as a product of two numbers which refer to the horizontal and the vertical pixel count - so for example a resolution of 800x600 refers to 800 pixel count horizontally and 600 pixel count vertically. The different types of resolution currently available is as follows, (note that higher is better)

1. 800x600 - SVGASVGA projectors are the cheapest and good for basic graphic capabilities like power point applications.
2. 1024x768 - XGAXGA projectors are still pretty cheap and better than SVGA.
2. 1280x800 - WXGAWXGA projectors support high resolution widescreen laptops and are more expensive than XGA and SVGA.
3. 1400x1050 - SXGA+SXGA+ projectors support much richer data applications like photography display. They are pretty expensive though cheaper options are also available now.
4. 1600x1200 - UXGAUXGA is a very high resolution for extremely detail oriented graphic applications. This are typically only required for very specialized use cases like medical imaging.

BrightnessThe brightness of projectors is measured in lumens. A higher lumen count implies more brightness. The different lumen ranges currently in the market is as follows:

1. < 2000 lumensThis is supported by the very basic models and is not suitable for viewing in the normal room lighting. Since the brightness level is low this would typically require you to switch off your room lighting. On the plus side most projectors below 2000 lumens are small and easy to handle.

2. 2000-3000 lumensThese are still the very basic projectors, the only difference being that typically switching off the light would not be required. However around 2500 lumens is typically good enough for typical meeting uses to display powerpoint projectors.

3. 3000-4500 lumensThis is a slightly more expensive category of projectors are best suited for display in large conference rooms or halls. However , you can still get the best projectors around 3500 lumens which are still pretty portable.

4. > 4500 lumensThese are typically the high performance projectors and go right up 12000 lumens and above. The use case is typically very specialized - like big conferences and music concerts.

If you're looking for something on the less expensive side, we've also got a list of the best budget friendly projectors of 2013 for you.